The Mozart Symphony No. 40 is one of only two symphonies Mozart set in a minor key.
Formally, the Symphony is firmly rooted in the classical tradition. Yet, within this established structure, it opened the door to powerful new currents which anticipated music to come.
It may be that the G minor Symphony is the work in which Classicism and Romanticism meet and where once and for all we see a perfect equilibrium between them, neither outweighing the other by the tiniest fraction. It is in this respect, at least, the perfect musical work.
The first movement (Molto allegro) does not open with a majestic, expansive introduction, as we hear in Symphony No. 39. Instead, it begins with a pulsating rhythmic motor in the low strings and a haunting, restless melody in the violins. This hushed, breathless opening theme is made up of a three beat pickup leading to a sighing resolution. Soon, the woodwinds enter and the theme takes new, unexpected turns. Following a flowing, chromatic second theme, fragments of the first theme return as a vibrant orchestral conversation.
From the abrupt opening bars, this music takes us on a turbulent and unpredictable journey. Nowhere is this more pronounced than in the harmonically adventurous development section. Listen to the sneaky way the development melts away, returning us “home” at the beginning of the recapitulation.
The second movement (Andante) initiates a sublime conversation between instrumental voices. Beginning with the violas and rising through first and second violins, each voice makes its individual entrance, propelled forward by a walking bass line in 6/8 time. This musical conversation covers a range of dramatic territory, from tenderness and mystery to deep reverence and awe. Woven together with sensuous chromaticism, the movement unfolds in sonata form, giving it a sense of weight equal to the first movement. Many of the slow movements of Beethoven’s symphonies give us a sense of blazing intensity and striving that seems to push past perceived limits. Something similar happens in Mozart’s development section.
We might expect the third movement (Menuetto. Allegretto – Trio) to be stately and elegant. Instead, we get a dark and ferocious dance filled with wild syncopation and competing contrapuntal voices. With jarring hemiola (a rhythmic juxtaposition of three against two, simultaneously), this snarling, exhilarating music is anything but polite.
Sonic sparks fly in the wild and virtuosic final movement (Finale. Allegro assai). This music is filled with the fun-loving abandon we hear in the swirling “Turkish dance” section of Mozart’s Fifth Violin Concerto.
It begins with an exuberant rising “Mannheim rocket” arpeggio line. (Beethoven seems to have paid homage to this theme in the third movement of his Fifth Symphony). The beginning of the development section (28:14) nearly spins out of control with something close to a twelve tone row. What follows seems like a warmup for the contrapuntal fireworks that unfold in Mozart’s next symphony, the “Jupiter.” The final bars surge to a fiery and emphatic conclusion.
Here is Leonard Bernstein to lead this music for your enjoyment:
